Referee report: Much decisions on the 36th matchday unveiled!

Referee report: Much decisions on the 36th matchday unveiled!

On May 5, 2025, the former FIFA referee Babak Rafati analyzed the controversial scenes of the 36th matchday of the 3rd division in a comprehensive report for Liga3-online.de. In his analysis, he realizes that some decisions of the referees, including in a decisive derby, had serious mistakes.

Rafati, which has decades of experience in referee and is now a mental coach and advisor to stress management, discussed 14 controversial scenes. Several wrong decisions are particularly striking for crucial actions that may have had a significant impact on the course of the games.

analysis of the controversial scenes

In the first scene, Kai Brünker is kept in his own half by Berkan Taz. According to Rafati, the decision of the referee Timon Schulz, showing yellow, is correct because there was no clear chance of scoring.

It becomes more interesting in the case of Tim Köhler, who got the ball on the neck in the penalty area, which resulted in a penalty. Rafati emphasizes that this was a wrong decision because no handball could be determined.

to Calogero Rizzuto, who received yellow-red due to a foul, Rafati notes that there was only a common foul; A free kick would have been sufficient.

In the scene around Thomas Kastanaras, who may have been offside, Rafati recognizes a wrong decision. He also sees the penalty for Soufiane EL-Faouzi as not justified because the contact was not sufficient.

Particularly explosive is Rafatis judgment on some penalty decisions in the context of the game between Dynamo Dresden and FC Erzgebirge Aue. A questionable penalty for Dresden was imposed in the derby, which Rafati critically rated. His verdict is clear: the penalty, given in the 31st minute, was a mistake because the ball was only on the arm of Niko Vukancic, which is not a criminal handball. In addition, Christoph Dasser awarded the penalty, which did not cause considerable sporting damage. However, Rafati agrees with the decision not to give a penalty for Aue after a duel.

The challenges of the referees

These errors throw a light on the challenges that referees are exposed to in football. According to the findings of Die-sportpsychologists.de, referees have to make an enormous number of decisions during a game-an average of about 200 per game. Studies show that up to 20% of these decisions can be incorrect. The decision-making is often influenced by the background noise in the stadium, which illustrates the so-called crowd-noise effect.

Rafatis analysis emphasizes that not every Situation is clearly recognizable. Perception, assessment and finally the decision are important factors that play a role in everyday referee. Referees are working hard to improve their services, especially in the lower play classes, where club's own assistants are often used who have limited perspectives.

Some other controversial scenes of the match day include: Maximilian Krauss, who was only admonished for a ruthless foul, which Rafati also sees as a wrong decision, and several penalty that is classified as unjustified in the analysis. Rafati draws a conclusion: In many cases, the correct application was not made, and decisive scenes remained undisputed.

These findings about the referee services, the management of decisions and the necessary precision in the rule application illustrate how complex and challenging the role of a referee in football is.